The Brazilian martial art, "capoeira", is popular in many countries outside Brazil, including the UK. "Capoeira" is generally taught by Brazilians whose livelihood depends on recruiting and retaining enough paying customers to keep their classes economically viable and socially pleasurable for the students. The teachers also have to establish and maintain authority over their students who are young adults with many other ways to spend their time and money. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in three British cities, the ways in which teacher authority is established, challenged and maintained are explored, including claims to authenticity, physical prowess, race, renaming the students, and skill on the dance floor. (Contains 6 notes.)